Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 01/20/2009 Run time: 90 minutes Rating: R
Likening Repo! The Genetic Opera to its predecessors, Little Shop of Horrors and Rocky Horror Picture Show, conveys this film's high camp and operatic bursts of song, but does little to describe how absolutely bizarre Repo! is. Like Rocky Horror, Repo! was written for stage performance by Darren Smith and Terrance Zdunich, who stars as a Graverobber, dolled up in vampiric makeup to resemble Rocky Horror's iconic tranny, Dr. Frank-N-Furter. Hiring newbie director, Darren Lynn Bousman, fresh out of film school to shoot this mutant movie, Smith and Zdunich clearly focused on writing comedy into extremely gruesome slasher scenes, which works with mixed results. Stills of comic strips contextualize each scene, telling the story of biotech corporation Geneco's repossessions of organs that they implanted into various patients to save human lives during a long history of operations. Organs, here, were bought on credit, and as the economy nosedives, citizens of this a makeshift Gotham City cannot pay bills, and must forfeit their lives to repo men make a killing around town, literally. Heading this enterprise is CEO Rotti Largo (Paul Sorvino), who has two bickering sons, Luigi (Bill Moseley) and Pavi (Nivek Ogre), whose white facemask is third generation Phantom, borrowing directly from Winslow Leach's in Brian De Palma's Phantom of the Paradise. Central to the plot is head repo guy/slaughterer, Nathan Wallace (Anthony Head of Buffy the Vampire Slayer), who hides his career path to preserve his sexy teenage daughter, Shilo's (Alexa Vega), innocence. As Shilo discovers her godmom, Blind Mag (Sarah Brightman), and the "Z"-addicted surgery slut, Amber Sweet (Paris Hilton), she embarks on adventures through an urban landscape constructed of metal gear, corpse piles, and S/M zombie girls, while dad straps people up in his torture chamber to take back body parts. Hmmmm. Since Repo! looks likes a Marilyn Manson video, its musical niche sensibility will only appeal to fans who like Goth and Industrial music. To anyone who doesn't go for that look, it does impress for its sheer dedication to choreography and song. In the least, Repo! The Genetic Opera is an anomalous glimpse into visionary horror. --Trinie Dalton
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Repo! The original.:
Very awesome movie. Music is amazing, and very catchy, you'll be singing along to it in no time, even if you don't like musicals! Amazing story line and awesome acting!
Enjoyable:
I really enjoyed this film. It was unique and different from a lot of movies out there.
A future where organ repossession is legal...did I mention this is a musical?:
Imagine a dystopic future where, after an epidemic of organ failures, a massive corporation known as GeneCo stepped in with the answer to people's problems. Not only could they get new organs, but they could afford them through a kind of organ financing plan (similar to making car payments or paying the mortgage). Once the epidemic past, however, GeneCo made new organs and anatomy-altering surgery a fashion statement and an accepted part of everyday life. With GeneCo's innovative system, you too can afford... more info
One of the Best Musicals!:
I never even heard of this movie till my cousin told me about it. I rented it to give it a shot. Now its one of my favorite musicals to date! Love the originality of the songs and the story! I will recommend this to all my musical loving friends and family!
